The Pacifica National Board has adopted the following motion to empower Pacifica’s members by providing them with regular, thorough and accurate information about the Foundation, the stations, and their finances. It also provides for members’ opportunity to communicate with management and governance publicly, so that other members can become more aware of the issues facing us, and possible solutions. It’s up to us to demand from our boards and management that the policy be implemented.

MOTION RE. COMMUNICATION WITH MEMBERS: 

On-air LSB Reports, LSB Email Contact, On-air Station Mgmt Reports to the Listeners, Community Advisory Board Report, Committee of Inclusion Report, National Mgmt Report, Station Newsletter, Staff Meetings

Whereas the Pacifica Bylaws, in Article 5 Section 1 (E) 4, charges the Pacifica National Board (PNB) with “ensuring regular communication with the Members” and this implies an exchange of information and ideas between foundation members and their elected representatives and between members and station and network management, therefore be it resolved:

(LSB On-air Report)

That the (Interim) Executive Director shall instruct each General Manager to make available to the Local Station Board, a minimum of an hour (55 min.) at least every other month, excluding December, between the hours of 6am and 10pm, for the purpose of an on-air LSB Report to the Listener on the state of the station. Each date is to be provided to the LSB Chair and Secretary at least 1 month in advance and unless a program has a multi-day schedule, no show should be preempted more than once a year, and 

That each Local Station Board (LSB) shall utilize said time for presentations on the governance work of the board, and on issues concerning the station and network, with at least half of the time of any such report given over to non-LSB member calls, and

That each report shall include approximately 4 members in an equal rotation of all interested members of the LSB in alphabetical order by first or last name as the LSB decides; and that in a year when there are to be LSB / Delegate elections, allowance will be made so that listener-members eligible to run shall be scheduled for participation before nominations open so they will not be on the air after nominations close; and further

(LSB Email)

That station management shall provide an email address to be managed by the LSB Chair and Secretary, that  allows for automatic distribution of incoming mail to all members and officers of the LSB, and which shall be uniform throughout the network as in “LSB@kpfa.org”, “LSB@wbai.org”, and “LSB@wpfw.org”. (This already exists at KPFK and KPFT); and further

(On-air Station Mgmt Report to the Listeners)

That station management shall provide an on-air report to listeners at least monthly on the state of the station, with at least half of the time of any such report given over to non-LSB member calls; and 

(Community Advisory Board On-air Report)

That at least once per year (perhaps toward the middle of the year), station management shall provide a date with a month’s notice to the Chair and Secretary of the station’s duly appointed or elected Community Advisory Board (CAB) for a 1-hour (55 min.) report by 4 members of the CAB chosen by Single Transferable Voting, with half the time given over to non-LSB and non-CAB member calls; and

(Committee of Inclusion On-air Report)

That at least once per year (perhaps toward the middle of the year), station management shall provide a date with a month’s notice to the Chair and Secretary of the station’s Committee of Inclusion (COI) for a 1-hour (55 min.) report by 4 members of the COI chosen by Single Transferable Voting, with half the time given over to non-LSB and non-COI member calls; and

(National Mgmt’s Biannual On-air Reports to the Membership)

That twice a year, the Executive Director shall coordinate with stations’ managements, a live 1-hour (55 min.) appearance across all Pacifica stations. The Chief Financial Officer and additional persons of the ED’s choosing, shall report to the listeners, with at least half of the hour given over to non-governance member calls; and 

(Station Newsletter)

That all managers are encouraged to produce a downloadable monthly e-newsletter for general distribution to anyone who signs up for it; and further

(Staff Meetings) 

That, on at least 3 weeks notice, a station’s General Manager and Program Director shall each conduct at least two meetings annually which shall be open jointly to the paid and unpaid staff members. It is recommended that these meetings occur on weekday evenings or on a weekend to allow maximum attendance. This provision is not intended to supersede any contractual obligation to hold meetings with staff.

http://pacifica.org/indexed_bylaws/art5sec1.html

Article Five, Board of Directors of the Foundation, Section 1: Board of Directors – Eligibility, Number, Powers and Duties

E. SPECIFIC POWERS AND DUTIES

Without prejudice to the general power of the Board set forth above in Section 1D of this Article of these Bylaws, and subject to any limitations set forth in these Bylaws, the ongoing duties and powers of the board shall include, but not be limited to:

(4) Ensuring regular communication with the Members;